What Schools Should I Look At

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore at an "elite" private school on Philadelphia's Main Line. I'm dissatisfied with it, and am switching schools after this year. I've done pretty well, with A A A- B+ B in my school's toughest curriculum, and plan to get straight A's this year.</p>

<p>While I'm applying to some other local private schools, they're all so similar to my school that I'd really rather go somewhere else. While I would ideally like to apply to a United World College, my parents want me to stay on the east coast. My ideal school is one where the academics are top-notch, specifically in the humanities and social sciences, where the academics are not about grades, but are about the life of the mind, and where the students are internationally aware, politically and socially active, and have a real social conscience.</p>

<p>So what boarding schools on the east coast exist for me?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I don't know about east coast boarding schools, but I did apply to the united world colleges last year. All of the kids at my interview were really amazing, as were the alumni there. I highly suggest you apply. I was ultimately wait listed, but I am going to try to reapply this year.</p>

3

<p>I would reccomend Blair, Peddie, and Hill. If you dont mind answering, what elite private school do you go to? I am actually looking for one in the Philadelphia Area. Penn Charter is one that I am currently looking at.</p>

4

<p>You really need to answer for yourself some basic questions, you appear to have the stats to be "in the game" so to speak at any school. What you need to ask is do you want a big or small school? how intense? what kind of sports and EC's do you do - does the school offer them? Dress code - formal? or not? Saturday classes? what are your study habits like? What language do you take/want to take? Will you consider single gender schools (I personally highly recommend at least not ruling them out)
Your answers will help guide you in narrowing down the choices.</p>

5

<p>First off, I wanted to apply to a UWC, but since I would be in New Mexico at the closest--my parents ruled it out.</p>

<p>And in terms of a school, I'd like the following:</p>

<p>Big or small: Small to medium
Formal Dress: Doesn't matter</p>

<p>Saturday Classes: I'd prefer not to, but it's not a deciding detail</p>

<p>Intensity: I don't want homework for the sake of homework, I want classes and work that are thought provoking--and environment where you're encouraged to question truth, accepted norms, etc...</p>

<p>Study habits: I almost never study, though when study is required I usually buckle down and just learn and go over the material</p>

<p>Language: I am in Spanish 2 adv. this year (I had taken French in middle school but switch to Spanish come high school), but ideally I'd like to take Russian, Chinese, or Italian.</p>

<p>Gender Schools: I would considering single-gender schools however I would prefer to be in a co-ed school and not an all-boys school.</p>

6

<p>Bump 10char.</p>

7

<p>EXETER:
Size: size might be a problem. exeter is MUCH smaller than a public school, but on the larger side when it comes to boarding schools. </p>

<p>Sat classes: they do have sat classes, but if u add them up and divide them by the # of wks, it comes out to b bi-weekly. </p>

<p>CO-ED</p>

<p>hw: if u manage ur time and use ur free periods its not that bad. at least yet. people tell me it gets worse. the hw is really helpful, xcept 4 maybe jr studies, but i don't think ud b entering as a prep</p>

<p>language: i take spanish, but it has a zillion. german, french, aribac, japanese, chinese, spanish, latin, classic greek...</p>

<p>studying: depends on the test, depends on the subject</p>

<p>there r also over 90 clubs dedicated to community service and over 100 clubs not related to community service, including so far-out things like break-dancing and belly-dancing. so there's something for everyone.</p>

<p>exeter is known for diversity and having lots of international students. </p>

<p>dress: for guys its a shirt and tie, but jeans r permitted</p>

<p>people here joke that exonians are the only people who spend breakfast reading the ny times and discussing politics. not really my thing, but a lot of people do</p>

<p>pm me if u want to know more. i also recommend from second-hand knowledge andover and sps. groton is nice, but VERY small and starts in 8th grade, but that's not really a prob</p>

8

<p>Exeter sounds great, and if someone could describe Andover, SPS, and Groton more that'd be great.</p>

<p>But also, what would it be entering one of these places in 11th grade, since that is when I'd be entering?</p>

9

<p>Episcopal, Haverford, Shipley......they are all cut from pretty much the same cloth, aren't they? I think that Groton would be disappointing because the only real difference between what it offers and what you have today is the boarding experience. It is smallish, very WASPy and wealthy and while there are certainly exceptions to this last generalization, the "sameness" of the student body is striking.</p>

<p>SPS is a bigger Groton in my opinion with a bit less of a sense of inbreeding, but still pretty intense.</p>

<p>Andover and Exeter are simply so huge and so well endowed that they can afford to mix their student bodies (scholarship, geography, academic choice etc) more than other boarding schools and even some colleges. They represent a bigger, genuinely material change from what you're used to today in the InterAc League.</p>

<p>The "I almost never study" comment sticks out as a bit "I'm so smart." So, I would caution that Exeter and Andover are tougher academically than anything you've experienced to date (Exeter especially). Right now, you're in a class of say 60 - 80 kids, mostly culled from Merion to Paoli. Exeter has more than a thousand kids from 9-12 who come from around the world, across the U.S., and from all socio-economic strata. The point here is that virtually all Exeter students are gifted and driven. The average Exeter kid equates to the top 5% of your current class. If you're lucky enough to be admitted as a junior, I'd counsel plenty of humility. Let your performance speak for itself.</p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>

10

<p>I do like that Exeter and Andover have really people from everywhere--however my chances at those schools are very small and I'm a bit scared of their size coming from a high school of around 350 people. I also apologize that my comment about studying came off as that, I did not mean it that way.</p>

<p>Are there any schools like Exeter or Andover that I would maybe have a better chance at and that is not as large?</p>

11

<p>How about Westtown or George School?
They're both quaker but it's not the in your face type of thing.
Both schools stress learning for the sake of learning and not just for the grade. To stress that point, I know Westtown doesn't calculate GPA or class rank, I'm not sure about George though.
Many students at both start in their junior year so it's not an extremly difficult adjustment to make.</p>

<p>There's also Hill, Shipley, and Haverford. However, they don't seem to be what you're looking for...</p>

12

<p>Well, two schools that I think are interesting (and you'll get lots of opinions on this board) are Northfield Mount Hermon School and The Governor's Academy. NMH's star is rising, they're mid-sized (about 600 kids). They do a GREAT job of maintaining a diverse student body and loads of interesting, thought-provoking courses and teachers. They have a strong (and getting stronger) record of college placements and most NMH kids to whom I've spoken love the place.</p>

<p>Governor's is an old school, a little less than 400 kids. My entire exposure comes from knowing a young lady who was graduated from there two years ago. She absolutely loved it. She's bright and athletic, but completely modest and fun to be around. </p>

<p>Have you been to boardingschoolreview.com? It's a great site. Sometimes its info can be a year behind, but by and large it's accurate and helpful.</p>